Necessity, Mother of Survival
by morningstar115
Summary: Written by equine 14 for a prompt. Bones, Chekov and Uhura show quite emphatically that they don't need taking care of. Warnings: Swearing, injuries, angst.
1. Chapter 1

Necessity, the Mother of Survival

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 **By Equine 14, for the prompt: Bones, Chekov and Uhura show quite emphatically that they don't need taking care of.**

 **Warnings: Light swearing (most of it in Russian), injury, and slight angst. But only a little. The only thing I own is the language of the natives, and the little blue branch. (you'll understand when you read it.) The rest is not mine.**

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1

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Ensign Pavel Andreievich Chekov sucked in a deep breath. He wouldn't openly admit it, but being on the Away team was exciting. The thing was, he'd only been on one or two, besides a few simulations at the academy, and of course, the mandatory practice missions on a nearby federation base. But this was the real thing. They were exploring the large, grey and blue planet below them, designated Ahahr-Tukh by Spock. He claimed the mineral content of the silvery chemical element, called Rhenium, was high in the water and ground, making it seem silver. Ahahr-Tukh was the Vulcan word for this element, Rhenium, that Chekov had immense trouble pronouncing with his accent.

CMO Leonard H. McCoy, however, felt that he would rather be fighting with his ex-wife than going on this trip. He hated planet explorations- the team always returned late, hurt, and missing about half or all of their red-shirted team. Somehow, almost no one else seemed to die. He grimaced and prepared for the horrible feeling of his molecules being whipped through the atmosphere. There were no redshirts this time. Who would die?

Meanwhile Kirk just grinned madly, winking at Spock, and holding his phaser. The Vulcan had promised natives. And Kirk always liked natives. Well, usually.

Uhura had argued last night with her Captain. She really didn't see the need to go down to this planet. But Kirk, the devil, had told her about a possibly new language.

"Captain, if it's new, I won't be able to translate it anyway."

"Yes, but you can derive some words from other languages, right? And it would be…. Educational. Right Bones?"

'Bones,' who was arranging hypos, growled, and made a disgusted face.

"See even the doc agrees, Lieutenant. Pack your bags!"

And so here they were. And then, they were gone.

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 **The next chapter, which is much longer, will be up momentarily.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Previous warnings start applying here.**

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2

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It was one accented word with which Chekov could use to break hearts.

"Kepten?" he looked up groggily. His head was crashing with pain. This was not how it was supposed to be. The captain was nowhere in near sight.

He tested his weight on his elbows, but it was not until he was halfway up that he realized he would not be going any further. He was weak; so weak. His muscles screamed, his head screamed. His side screamed. And when Chekov hit the ground in exhaustion, the effects of blood loss and pain, he too, threw back his head, and screamed in agony.

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It was a soggy Spock (with a soggier comm in hand) who found Kirk, and it was both of them who found Uhura…. 8.43 hours after the transportation malfunction.

All communications were lost, but not before Scotty could explain that the transport had gone into what he called 'Gamma mode' which allowed it to rapidly recover from a systems failure. Unfortunately it had already begun to transport the away team. And yet more unfortunately, before Kirk could ask how long until they could be beamed back, he tripped over a recently deceased forest rodent and the communicator went flying into a large, smooth silver rock and smashed. And thus, all communications were lost. And yet, not entirely.

For there sat Nyota, hands folded neatly in her lap, speaking freely in a dialect of soft and sharp sounds mixed, among the natives. And looking more like a mannequin with perfectly realistic features than a woman who'd spent the last several hours trekking through the great unknown- a rain forest full of bluish-aqua and dark green trees.

"Tthka- u- I'llla. Knre' 'lovwetcht, o' aa y'ou-rewwstred ockp!" she was gesturing wildly. Nyota glanced up and saw a disheveled Kirk, who seemed uninjured except for a heavily-bleeding cut on his left forearm, and Spock. The latter person nearly brought her to tears of laughter. His smooth black hair had become dampened in sweat, and was slicked back against his head, and he was wet from his chest to his feet. His shirt was more of a muddy blackish-green than blue, and his mouth was slightly ajar at the sight Lieutenant Uhura, who looked so comfortable. She sat on a large purple leaf spread on the ground that was as long as Spock was tall and as wide as he could stretch his arms. Besides a bit of powdery silver from the nearby rocks, which was sprinkled and smudged on her red dress, she was flawless, sitting among the grey-skinned natives.

"How are you doing that?" Kirk finally asked, exasperated. He glanced warily at the natives, who's bright translucent eyes glittered.

"Captain?" she was confused.

"How do you understand the flippin' things? The natives! Damn, that's cool!"

Spock cast concerned eyes over Kirk, "I believe the Captain wishes to know how you have achieved successful communications with the native creatures, Lieutenant." He raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

"They're not natives. Do you remember the old Federation planet Zannreid VI whose population and race was taken out by the Bandion Epidemics? I studied their language in high school as an extra course. These aliens are the sons and daughters of pioneers from that planet. Well," she looked down and blushed, "they call themselves pioneers. Their parents were actually banished from their home planet. They are criminals, Captain."

Spock was momentarily alarmed. Kirk just bust out into yelling, "Lieutenant Uhura! What the heck possessed you to walk in here and start gossiping with the children of exiled CRIMINALS?"

Spock expected her to apologize, blush, anything. But instead she stuck her chin out defiantly and said, "Captain, I am suddenly all too well aware that you consider it foolish for me to simply converse with aliens, yet meanwhile it's not crazy at all for you to go jumping into drills, bars fights, space's vacuum, and the radiation core of our ship, which happened to be falling through space at the time! And it's not even slightly insane to ride a three-hundred-year-old motorcycle into an enemy's camp while we all stand by helplessly in the open waiting to get blasted to death! You are my commanding officer, and I respect that. But by now you should know- I can take care of myself!"

And with that she marched off into the forest, shouting in the 'native' language over her shoulder, "C'craccat a iu-trequd iklred m' d'a'x-a! Spikk, Ko!"

Kirk and Spock could only guess what that meant.

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It was Bones who found his only slightly crushed communicator tucked in his palm. Which was pressed against his back. Underneath him. His arm was broken in at least one place he could tell, and didn't try to move it. Okay more than that. He blacked out. And it was Chekov who found Bones.

The kid had a bright blue tree branch sticking out of his gut. God, it hurt.

"Черт. Проклятье все! Глупо ... синий ... прут! О Боже!" he swore in Russian. He was drenched in his own blood, and it scared him to near insanity.

"Doctor McCoy!" his heavy accent was thickened with his agony.

He knelt, or really, fell, to his knees beside the man, and saw his superior officer was unconscious. He saw Bones' broken arm. Chekov slowly set to work, moving the limb gently out from under McCoy, who grimaced in his unconsciousness.

"Sorry, sorry." Mumbled Chekov, propping the doctor up against a light green tree with bark that smelled of sweet autumn air.

Chekov waited. And waited. And he bled. He had to fix it. So with much agony, he did.

McCoy presently began to stir.

After some time, he became aware of his position, and jerked in pain.

"Doctor!" Chekov mumbled, semiconscious. He was prone on the ground before McCoy.

"Chek- "his voice hitched in extreme pain, and he slumped back. He knew he had to fix that arm before he could help Chekov, who's breathing had become a deep, shaky sound, like he was trying to draw oxygen from water, and failing.

McCoy saw a root. He didn't want to do this; the pain had crippled his enough trying to sit up. But for the whiz kid who was dying, he had to. Leonard McCoy, for all he was worth, grabbed that root with his broken arm, and pulled. A sickening crack, like a rock hitting a granite counter, his bones snapped together. He knew he screamed, but he couldn't hear it. He fell into darkness. But not before Chekov murmured, "Doctor?"

"I'm okay, Pavel… I'm oka….y…..don't wait for me…"

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It was a very happy Scotty who found a solution. And he beamed Uhura, who looked strangely miffed, Kirk, who was tousled but grinning, and Spock, who looked like a messy Andorian Alpha Bear wearing science blues. Then he beamed back Chekov and Bones. Bones looked like hell. And Chekov looked… slightly more like hell. The kid was bleeding everywhere, and there was a blue twisty branch in his hand, clutched tightly between white-knuckled fingers. McCoy sat up.

"What happened to you?" He asked quietly, cradling his arm.

"Hi Bones." Jim helped him to sit up, and two medical transports were already waiting.

"I can take care of myself."

"Yeah. Yeah I guess you already did."

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Spock took two showers that day. The first one, he took to get the mud off. And the second one he took when he realized that his hair still had silver dust and algae plastered in it. When he came out, Lieutenant Uhura was waiting in the hall.

"Spock!"

"Uhura."

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. You looked a bit roughed up."

"I am fine. How are Ensign Chekov and the Doctor?"

"They're resting in Medbay. We can go visit. Kirk and some others are there already."

They began to walk. Outside of Medbay, Uhura paused, "Spock I wanted to ask you… why were you covered in water and muck?"

Spock's cheeks may have tinted green in embarrassment. But maybe it was just the light. "Lieutenant- "

"Be honest Spock."

"Vulcan's are always honest. I was beamed down into a lake- " Uhura stifled her oncoming giggles- "and was pursued by a large…" Spock struggled. This was hard for him, she could tell, "aquatic animal that is native to earth, known as a… fish."

Nyota began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Nyota, if you are under the impression that it was an amusing activity to be chased by a large, carnivorous, paraphyletic creature, you are incorrect."

"Oh, no Spock," she sobered up, but still smiled. "It isn't funny. I'm glad you survived."

Spock said nothing as they entered the Medbay. Bones was up and about, his arm in a sling after a few hours under a bone-knitter, and Chekov was sleeping soundly. McCoy ran a tricorder over him.

"So what do you think happened, Bones? How did you two get hurt in those ways?" Kirk asked. His hair had been combed, and he had on a new uniform, but Spock could still smell the smell of sweat and forest on him.

"Well, I was transported into a tree, fell out and cracked my beautiful arm, and Chekov, well, it looks like he was transported into that branch. That must have hurt; his weight would have made it break off the tree." McCoy shuddered. "How about you, Jim, how did you get that?"

"I tripped over a dead rat."

Everybody stared at him.

"You know what, never mind." He went over to the beeping comm on the far wall of Medbay with his hands thrown up in the air.

"Doctor?"

"Chekov!" they all cried, except for Spock, who was not prone to 'crying' anything.

"Doctor, I waited for you."

"So you did, Chekov, so you did. You hardly even needed me. You took good care of yourself. Just next time, wait till you know you can stop yourself from bleeding out, okay kid?"

Kirk had wandered back to the bed. "Ah, so we're all still alive! Great! We just got a transmission from the U.S.S. Violet near Helioatia IIV. They have to go into the next Star base for urgent repairs on their oxygen supply systems, and they've got some people still on the planet. Anybody want to be on the Away team?"

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 **The End**


End file.
